Mirror Mirror on the Wall … for Organizations & People

• Todays fast paced world requires speedy execution. It is virtually impossible to succeed with a 100% baked plan – the required time to execution will not permit that luxury
• Successful individuals & organizations approach an initiative with the end result in mind. The steps to the end result are carefully considered in terms of priority by impact to the end result and each step is then provided an appropriate amount of time & effort based on its priority – this will never be uniform
• When the execution trigger is pulled every plan goes in with inherent risks. This is fine and acceptable & has no negative bearing on the planner. It is the checks and balances that the planner subsequently puts in place that determines the quality and class of the planner
• Nothing teaches us better than our mistakes and failures, provided we know how to catch them, accept them, "fix" them & ensure they are never repeated while spreading our learning to those around us.
• Most people or organizations have not figured out how to leverage their failures .. very unfortunate!
• I have seen organizations implement solicited feedback mechanisms from employees on organizational changes, product ideas, customer experiences and used this learning as a huge leverage
• I have been involved in processes of sharing best practices. These ideas are free and as long as our egos do not prevent us from ‘not inventing the wheel’ all over again, it makes absolute sense to borrow these ideas, tweak them if needed and implement them in your environment
• Please do not be a miser!!! Share your ideas with others & they will do the same with you. As people communicate & collaborate, the overall value grows much faster than a sum of hard thinking individuals. Look at how Metcalf’s law spurred on the entire Computer Networking industry that generates hundreds of billions of dollars every year
• I know it is hard for achievers to talk about failures. That said, failures often teach better lessons than successes and should be therefore shared especially within organization. That is one way of building a knowledge based organization that thrives & grows using its collective wisdom in the face of any adversity
• A similar rationale applies to individuals as well – My workplace is like a suction pump that just draws me in the moment I start my work day. So I know how difficult this is. I have learnt to deal with it though through some great advice from friends, family and well wishers…
• A solo morning walk, meditation, listening to music followed by Journaling (a key skill that I will talk about separately) helps not only to reflect on the previous day, week or month but also enables to plan a micro period like a day or a week, a major initiative or a career action.
• Once you have reflected, learned and then planned your actions you know exactly why you are doing what you are doing. Then go ahead and run your day or week with confidence
• I always take time out in December & use part of the holiday season dedicated for general downtime and on reflecting on the year gone by while planning for the year ahead. This plan involves my personal, family, intellectual, professional & philanthropic goals. Come 1 Jan, my sight is crystal clear ... I am set to execute my plan